Ultrasonic transducers have been employed in ultrasound therapy systems to achieve therapeutic heating of diseased and other tissues. Phased ultrasound arrays of transducers operating to form a beam of ultrasonic energy cause a conversion of sound to thermal energy in the affected tissue areas or treatment volumes, and a subsequent beneficial rise in the temperature in the treatment volumes. With proper monitoring of the heating effect, ultrasound therapy systems can be used to treat harmful cells and to controllably destroy cancerous tumors.
As known to those skilled in the art, ultrasonic transducers are constructed and operated to take electrical power and produce ultrasound energy waves from a surface of a transducer element in a process generally referred to as transduction. The nature and extent of the transduction depends on the material used to construct the transducers, transducer geometry, and the electrical input to the transducers. A common material used in construction of ultrasound transducers is piezo-electric transducer crystal material (lead zirconate titanate, PZT) which comes in several forms.
Various designs for ultrasonic array systems have been used in the present field of art. The present disclosure will not provide a detailed exposition of the prior arrays. Ultrasound array design can be challenging, and improvements to such designs would improve the effectiveness, safety and cost to manufacture of such arrays.